Not slowing down: 30 years of LifePath® target date funds

Life doesn’t slow down at retirement. After 30 years, neither will we.

In the 30 years since we pioneered target date funds, we’ve continually evolved our LifePath franchise to help deliver the retirement outcomes participants need. So when they do retire, they can do so on their own terms. Whether that means slowing down – or not.

LifePath has always been built around participant needs. And we continue to innovate to help stay ahead of them – which means we aren’t slowing down any time soon.

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LifePath TDFs don’t just work – they work for you.

Under the hood, target date funds monitor four key risks that savers face: how long you’ll live, how much you earn and can put away, market risk, and inflation.

They automatically rebalance risk levels over time, so that the only decision a saver needs to make is “what’s my target date” (the date you plan to retire).

Today 36 million people use target date funds

Target date funds have come a long way. From humble beginnings in an industry that was slow to embrace them, target date funds have become the most common default option in DC plans.1 Morningstar has gone so far as to call them “the best development for investors since the index fund.”2

 

In the time before target date funds, individual investors had to decide which funds to hold and how to balance their portfolios against risk. Most 401(k) savers flocked to either mutual funds or stable value strategies – often with unintended consequences.

LifePath was the first of a new type of strategy that handled portfolio decisions through time for savers – and the first 401(k) product to address both investment and behavioral considerations, providing individuals with the opportunity to achieve better investment outcomes through a simple and cost-effective solution.

60%
of 401(k) plan participants are invested in a target date fund.
9
countries where BlackRock offers LifePath target date funds.
30
years of innovation since LifePath, the first target date fund, was pioneered in 1993.

With a $450 billion global franchise, LifePath has transformed what it means to save for retirement

As we think about the next 30 years of target date funds, we intend to uphold the legacy we’ve built. We’re focused on meeting the needs of the individual – equipping them with today’s tools for tomorrow’s retirement.

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LifePath Assets Under Management, US and CA 1993-2023
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CategoryAUM
19930
199444352533
1995127098754
1996318856198
1997483938419
1998622690285
1999484503233
2000527661000
2001675543000
2002607724258
2003968945499
20041313487391
20051841841706
20062372937497
20073992779645
20086251780106
20092898643292
201014693044315
201144431567635
201264308011852
2013103464000000
2014120378000000
2015125960000000
2016151326000000
2017206169000000
2018209384000000
2019279117000000
2020339909000000
2021420502000000
2022373247000000
2023 427858000000

BlackRock and Morningstar Direct as of August 2023. Assets under management (AUM) shown includes both mutual fund and collective trust fund assets.

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We’ve made it easier and simpler for people to be invested during the course of their life, and I'm really proud that BlackRock pioneered this revolutionary vehicle.

– Anne Ackerley

LifePath. We’ve worked for you. For 30 years.

With 30 years of practice now under our belt, we’ve gotten more and more precise in bringing this vision to life. What began as the idea that a cohort of savers would benefit from professionally managed investment solutions has become a sophisticated franchise designed to help meet precise individual needs.

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Putting the target in target date funds

With LifePath, our investment philosophy has always been to build holistic solutions that provide consistent spending to and through retirement. That’s why we continually monitor the key risks that matter at various stages of the retirement journey – from longevity and savings risks to market and purchasing power risks. In today’s environment of heightened inflation and growing demand for retirement spending solutions, these core beliefs are even more important.

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For most people, the point of saving for retirement is so you can stop working someday. That's why LifePath's investment objective is to support consistent spending in retirement. It's been that way since day one - and it's a big piece of what sets us apart.

Nick Nefouse

Most target date funds on the market today aim to address a single variable – like wealth accumulation or principal protection. These are relatively easy to define because they’re one-dimensional. The problem is: Retirement is multi-dimensional.

That’s why we study income profiles, life expectancy, risk aversion, and more. By incorporating these considerations into our investment philosophy, LifePath uniquely incorporates the individual at the heart of our investment process.

Our lifecycle model integrates data with investor preferences

Our lifecycle model
Income

Income profiles sourced from local labor market and government datasets

Life expectancy

Mortality expectations sourced from local resources and datasets

Market returns & volatility

Capital market assumptions based on local investor perspective using local currency

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